Students and faculty have been busy creating flyers, posters and sending out e-mails in an attempt to raise awareness for the upcoming Iraq War Teach-In.

Professors and invited speakers will host free discussions and workshops covering a variety of war-related topics over the course of next week.

Freshman Luke Barnekow, a political science major, is helping to promote the event and also plans to attend a few of the scheduled speaker workshops. Barnekow said he feels the teach-in will give students the chance to better inform themselves about the war.

“I think (Iraq) is the most significant event in history that the student body has lived through,” he said.

Staff and Faculty for Peace and Justice is coordinating the teach-in, which kicks off Sunday with a rally at Owen Park and a march to Davies Center, and culminates in a rally on the Campus Mall Wednesday.

The Progressive Student Association is promoting the event, as well as providing advertising and financial contributions, said senior Progressive Student Association President Andrew Werthmann.

Students from area high schools also are participating and invited to attend, Werthmann said.

The purpose of the teach-in is to educate students about the various contributing factors to events transpiring in the Middle East, assistant professor of geography Zoltan Grossman said.

“It’s very important to have a dialogue on this campus and get as much information as you can,” he said. “The media gives current events but not the background (of the war).”

Werthmann agreed the primary purpose of the teach-in is to increase a dialogue among members of the community.

“We want first and foremost to remind people there is a war,” he said.

The event is not labeled pro-war or anti-war or considered partisan. Unlike most of the other war-related events on campus, the teach-in is meant as an educational tool where people can acquire a multitude of differing viewpoints regarding Iraq and military intervention, Barnekow said.

Grossman will host his own workshop on the history of military intervention in the 20th Century. A member of SFPJ, he feels it is important for community members to hear the concerns voiced by people who have been directly affected by the war, he said. Perspectives from veterans, military families with members overseas and military-aged young people should be included in discussions, he said.

“It’s really an opportunity to speak out rather than sitting and listening to people speak.”